Second Time

Chapter 37 - Monster

Shao Yue had been walking for the better part of a day. She couldn't rest before dealing with the entity constantly staring at her, so she could only continue on through the winding cave networks.

Finally, something happened.

The ground exploded right in front of Shao Yue. She dashed backwards, leaving behind an afterimage. With a swipe of her sword, she commanded the Earth Fire Hound to release as much fire as possible.

From the dust and rubble, a massive spider lunged forward, several times taller than Shao Yue. It held a net of silk in its four front legs. The fire from the hound contacted the silk, but couldn't burn it. An instant later, the hound was completely bound in the silk, cutting off Shao Yue's spiritual connection with it.

The spider tossed the Spirit into the hole it had just jumped out of, then regarded Shao Yue warily. Shao Yue looked too calm despite having her Spirit captured.

Shao Yue judged the spider to be equivalent to a peak Heavenly Realm cultivator, which explained why nobody had left the area alive. She felt confident, but wouldn't recklessly charge in without knowing which Domain the spider could control.

When a Heavenly Realm expert reached sufficient comprehension in the laws of a certain Dao, they could influence the world with those laws to improve their strength. For example, a cultivator with strong Fire Dao knowledge could turn a hundred meter sphere into a sea of flames. The spider would certainly have one.

The two stared at each other, unmoving, giving Shao Yue a chance to observe the monster's appearance.

The spider's body was pure black with a somewhat rough appearance. It looked as if it had been carved by hand from obsidian. Unlike most spiders Shao Yue had seen, it had no hairs on its body. It had eight glowing red eyes above its massive fangs. She couldn't identify its species.

"Do you want to talk or fight?" Shao Yue asked, breaking the silence.

The spider replied by pouncing towards her.

Shao Yue pulled another sword out of her storage ring and tossed it to the side. Hu'er appeared and caught it. The two acted in unison, parrying the spider's front legs to either side before rushing in.

From the moment Hu'er could take human form, the two had trained in combination techniques. With their minds linked, they could react and coordinate to an insane degree compared to any pair of humans.

The spider was quite alarmed to see the new Spirit take the field. It displayed remarkable agility, its legs turning into blurs as it dodged and stabbed. It shot streams of silk at the two attackers, but they had no issues weaving around them or redirecting them.

Shao Yue exerted the full force of her Authority on the spider, causing it to hesitate for a moment. Her and Hu'er both unleashed powerful slashes, illuminating the cavern with blue light from their blades of qi. They struck the spider's exoskeleton, but only managed to cut a few inches in.

"So tough!" Shao Yue said with a gasp.

"Soul Manifestation Realm!" the spider called out in alarm, its voice somewhat feminine.

The combatants' surprise only lasted for a split second before they returned to fighting. Shao Yue and Hu'er had a relentless assault. Each time one of them attacked, the other would follow up during the downtime, leaving the spider not a single moment without a sword or claw coming towards it.

As the spider dodged, it spread webs across every surface of the cavern. It could move freely across them, but Shao Yue and Hu'er had to take measures to deal with them, lowering their speed noticeably and giving the spider some time to breathe.